When I was an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, students on the premedical track had developed a scheme for protecting their grade point averages from organic chemistry. Instead of completing the course on campus, they would enroll in a more forgiving summer program elsewhere. The popular destination, I was surprised to learn, was Harvard University.
As it turns out, Harvard really is a layup. A report released in October by the university’s Office of Undergraduate Education confirmed what those students had already sussed out: Grades at the university had been creeping upward for decades. In the 2024–25 academic year, three out of every five grades awarded to Harvard undergraduates were A’s.
Last week, Harvard’s faculty finally tackled the problem, approving a grade cap that will limit A’s to 20 percent of the undergraduates per course, plus up to four exceptions for extenuating circumstances. The changes will take effect in the fall of 2027. Nearly 70 percent of Harvard’s faculty voted in favor of the plan, and its dean of undergraduate education said that she hoped the grade cap would “encourage other institutions to confront similar questions with the same level of rigor and courage.”
